Update: Oh god I forgot to replace my line reminders with actual lines, please forget you saw that...
No one knew how to respond to Ran's question. Even if they did, who would want to be the to explain just what was going on to the girl? Certainly not Yamato-who promptly disappeared in cloud of smoke without so much of a word. Sai quickly followed his lead and was gone in the blink of an eye.
Trators…! Kakashi mentally grumbled at them. Maybe he could sneak away as well and leave this to Naruto and Sakura… The latter, seemingly reading his mind, shot him a look that promised large amounts of pain if he followed that train of thought. Ran hadn't looked away from him, waiting expectantly for an answer.
"Ah… well Ran… you're going to staying with me from now on… here in the village."
"So Jii-chan isn't coming to get me?"
"No…" Kakashi said with a slight wince.
Ran fell quiet as she thought about what that meant for her, "does he not want me anymore…?"
Kakashi full on winced at that, how the hell was he supposed to respond to that? "...I'm sure he still wants you, but your mother wanted you to live with me and he didn't want to go against her wishes…" Was the best he was able to come up with after a few moments. Why do kids always have to ask the hardest questions?
Ran really didn't seem to have much of a reaction to his explanation, most likely not believing him. Kakashi let out a sigh as he ruffled his hair. Now what? Should he bring her to his apartment? The jonin was pretty sure he had an old ratty futon stored in the closet, but that was the least of his worries. He could tell with one glance that Ran was covered in dirt and dust from her trip to the village. She would need a bath, and it was rather unlikely she would let him give her one. Not that he would be anywhere near comfortable bathing her. Maybe Sakura would be willing to…?
"Well, it's getting late, we should head home," Kakashi for once actually paid for himself and Ran, but Naruto or Sakura was going to have to cover Sai and Tenzou's. It'd probably end up being Naruto; knowing their female teammate. Ran looked from him and back up to Sakura before she jumped down from the older girl's lap.
"Can you come with us…?" She asked Sakura and Naruto with big eyes and small tug on the girl's hand. Sakura looked like she was trying to find a way to politely refuse that the little girl would understand. "Can they come too…?" Ran turned to Kakashi and belatedly asked with those big sad eyes. It wouldn't hurt to have them tag along.
"I guess they can stay for a while," he sighed.
"Hell yeah! Party at sensei's house!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat.
"Idiot, it's not going like that," Sakura scolded.
"Oi, someone needs to pay," Teuchi said holding up a bill.
"Damn that Sai and Yamato-taichou… sticking us with their bill! Ne, Sakura-chan, do you wanna split it?" But when Naruto looked back at Sakura, she was already turning the corner at the end of the street. Kakashi was leading the way to his apartment with Ran in tow.
"Sa-sakura-chan…!" Naruto cried before he dejectedly took out his wallet to pay.
Kakashi's apartment was in one of the many buildings Konoha had that offered low rent costs to active shinobi. He had lived in the same apartment since he was 17, and despite having more than enough money to get a better place, Kakashi was far too lazy to move out. And all he really needed was a place to sleep every once and awhile and a place to store his books. His apartment was situated on the third floor of the five story complex. It was a single bed and bath with a small living area with an attached kitchenette. There was a small dining table with two chairs in the kitchen while the living area sported a low table and cushions. A small TV sat on a wooden stand next to a bookshelf filled books ranging a myriad of subjects, but most related to shinobi in some way or another. There was a distinct lack of the Icha Icha series though; Kakashi kept those on the bookshelf in his room.
"So this is your house, sensei," Naruto said as he promptly made himself at home on one of the cushions. "You have more books than I would have thought, ya know? I mean, all we ever see you reading are those dirty books by Ero-sennin."
"I'm glad you think so highly of me," Kakashi retorted.
"It's cleaner than I would have expected," Sakura commented as she entered.
"Do both my students really think so little of me?" He exclaimed in mock hurt.
"Yes," they responded in unison, causing Kakashi hang his head in defeat.
Ran was the last one to enter the apartment, and once she had kicked off her sandals, she looked at a loss for what to do next.
"Sakura, do you think you could give Ran a bath?" Kakashi asked hopefully.
"Oh? Oh, yeah, sure. Come on, Ran-chan, let's get you cleaned up!" Sakura steered the little girl towards the door Kakashi had pointed out to her. After they closed the door he went into his own room to find the spare futon he was sure he had. He found it after a few minutes in the back of the closet tucked behind several boxes. The thing looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in a decade, which was probably true, due to the amount of dust that had settled into it. Kakashi returned to the living area to find his other student lounging about on his side.
"Here," he said throwing the old and battered futon at him, "make yourself useful and beat the dust out of this." Naruto pulled a face but did as he asked, grumbling as he made a few clones to help him.
"Make sure you do it outside, I don't want all that dust in here."
"Fine, fine…"
Sakura got a closer look at Ran's hair as she rinsed out all of the shampoo and dirt. What she originally had thought to be a rose color close to her own actually turned out to be more of a pink tinted white. Huh, looks like she inherited more than just the texture of sensei's hair… She thought as she did one last run through of her incredibly thick hair to make sure there wasn't any lingering shampoo.
"There! All clean! Do you want to sit in the bath while I wash?" Sakura asked the girl and helped her into the deep tub after she nodded her head. The older girl quickly set to work washing herself and her hair, ignoring how weird it felt to be using her sensei's shampoo. It seemed to be some sort of special scent eliminating shampoo, not the type Sakura would usually use, but she didn't mind too much. It wasn't too long before the older girl joined Ran in the tub. The two sat in silence for a short while before Ran worked up the courage to speak.
"Ne, what's he like?" She asked.
"Who? Sensei?" Ran confirmed with a serious nod. "Hmm, well he's always late, and he makes awful excuses; super lazy; irresponsible, always making others pay for his food, even when he'd say he'd pay! And he's always reading those dirty books when he's suppose to be doing something important! He doesn't listen when he's told he needs to stay in the hospital, and then he shows up again because he didn't listen and now I need to redo all his stitches because he was too stubborn to listen to the professionals! Nooo, he thinks he soooo tough! The great Sharingan no Kakashi doesn't need hospitals, no HE'S JUST TOO DAMN GOOD FOR THEM, SHANNARO!" Sakura started off relatively calm, but as she went on her voice started to rise in level and before she knew it she was yelling. Angry hand gestures included. When Sakura finally looked back at Ran, she found the poor girl looking considerably paler and quiet shocked and concerned.
"Eh? Ran-chan…?" Sakura called softly as she started to sweat. Maybe she had gone a little over board…? Ran briefly looked up at the older girl before looking back down at the water, apparently going into shock when she started to shake a little.
"Ah-ah! D-don't worry, Ran-chan! Kakashi-sensei as a lot of good traits! Uhh, let's see… Oh! He really does care for his teammates, despite how he may act, he's willing to sacrifice himself to protect them! And, and… … I'm sure he has a lot more good qualities, even if I can't think of them right now!" Sakura nervously rambled before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. It didn't seem to help much as the poor girl was still looking at the water in shock.
Out in the living area, Kakashi currently had his head against the low table occasionally letting out a groan when Sakura hit a sore spot. Damn the thin walls in this place!
"She's right you know," Naruto added as he sipped some tea, apparently having left his clones to finish beating the futon.
Kakashi was sorely tempted to kick him out of his apartment. Literally.
While Sakura and Ran were in the bath, a chunin from the Hokage's office came and dropped off Ran's backpack. Which turned out to be a very good thing since there were a clean pair of pajamas inside. Kakashi had dropped off her dirty clothes in one of the washing machines on the roof, but they would be washing for a while and then line drying on top of that.
Along with the frog pattern pajamas, Kakashi and Naruto found what looked like an industrial strength hair brush, a rather beat up looking stuffed turtle, a toothbrush, and a framed picture. It showed a beautiful woman with long straight hair, several shades darker than Ran's, held back by a bandanna with ink splattered across her face. She appeared to be laughing at something out of the frame.
"Is that Ran's mother?" Naruto asked as he looked at the picture, "she's really pretty."
"I think that's her…" Kakashi responded as he rubbed his temples.
"What do you mean, you 'think'?" Naruto nearly yelled in disgust, but Kakashi was quick to quiet him. That was definitely not something he wanted Ran to hear. "You don't even remember what the lady who had your kid looked like?" Kakashi winced at the accusation, majorly because it was true.
"It's not exactly as though we spent a lot of time together. Look, we only spent one night together," this was getting a bit too personal for Kakashi's liking, but he knew Naruto would get it out of him one way or another. And it would be better if he heard it from him and not from the rumor mills. "I had no idea Ran even existed until today…and I remember very little about her mother, alright?"
Naruto fell quiet as he looked at the picture before asking, "why do you think she didn't tell you she had your baby…?"
"Maybe she had a better understanding of shinobi politics? … I have no idea, Naruto."
"What do you mean, 'shinobi politics'?" His brow scrunching up in confusion.
Kakashi opened his mouth to explain, but quickly shut it when Sakura and Ran came out of the bathroom with both of their hair a mess. "Sensei, why don't you have a hair brush?" Sakura asked with her hands on her hips. Ran had a towel draped around her shoulders to keep her pajama shirt from getting soaked by her still wet hair.
"I've never really needed one before, but it looks like you're in luck, though! Seems Ran brought one with her," Kakashi explained as he held up the brush.
Sakura looked like she was going to say something, but ended up just shaking her head before taking the brush. The older girl crouched behind Ran before attacking her hair with a towel. It seemed the poor girl's hair was incredibly absorbent and the towel was soaked by the time Sakura deemed her hair dry enough to begin brushing it. The reinforced brush started to make more sense as Sakura had to use quite a bit of strength to get it through Ran's dense locks, who braved the pain in quiet determination. The older girl quickly ran the brush through her own hair before putting it on the low table. Naruto quickly snatched it up and looked at it in amazement.
"My hair has broken brushes before," Ran said in way of an explanation.
"That's actually pretty impressive…" Naruto muttered to himself before he returned the brush to her backpack.
"Well, it's getting late, I think it's time for you two to head home," Kakashi said to Naruto and Sakura as he stood up.
"EEHHH-" Naruto started to complain, but Sakura quickly cut him off.
"I'm sure Ran is tired after the day she's had. Come on, Naruto," she dragged him to the door before letting him go so he could put his scandals on. "we'll see you tomorrow, Kakashi-sensei, Ran-chan."
"Later, sensei," Naruto said with a lazy wave, "Ran." The little girl returning their waves.
"Yeah, tomorrow," Kakashi said before dropping to a whisper, "and thanks for your help today…" The two weren't sure if they had really heard him say the last part before he promptly closed the door in their faces.
"Rude!" Naruto exclaimed before stomping off. Sakura sighed before shaking her head and heading after her teammate.
Kakashi turned back to see Ran uprighting the previously face down picture of Hitomi on the table. She apparently felt his eyes on her and proceeded to look up at him with those big eyes so much like his own. "There is a futon set up for you-" he started to explain before she cut him off.
"Where's Kero-chan? I need him to sleep."
"Kero-chan?"
"My turtle," Ran said seriously, "he should have been in my backpack."
Kakashi dug the stuffed animal, that took up most of the space, out of the backpack before handing it to Ran. "Why's his name Kero? That's the sound frogs make."
"Because he was raised by frogs," Ran stated like that was obvious.
"Of course."
Now that Ran had her turtle, she quietly followed Kakashi into what would now be their shared bedroom. An old, patched-more-than-a-few-times, rather beat up futon sat between Kakashi's bed and desk. He was pretty sure the thing had seen the last two ninja wars. "We'll get a better one tomorrow," he reassured Ran. But it seemed as though she didn't mind and quickly crawled under the quilt. She laid staring up at him expectantly, but Kakashi had no idea what she wanted. "Well… goodnight…" he said a tad awkwardly before he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. Ran had looked a little disappointed when he left without doing whatever it was that she wanted, but he just shrugged it off.
"Goodnight, Kero-chan… Mama," Ran whispered to the turtle before clutching it tightly to her chest and rolling over. In the other room, Kakashi smacked his forehead against the table.
Kakashi was a ninja. It was the one thing he was good at. Sneaking around and moving without a sound was kinda his thing. So when he went to bed several hours later, he did it without a sound, and was very confident he did it without waking the room's other occupant. One glance confirmed this as Ran currently had her face buried in her stuffed turtle as she slept.
Kakashi: 1
World: 479,675
It was a start.
…
As an elite jonin, it was a given that Kakashi never slept all that deeply, and was quickly brought out of his sleep by a sniffle. A little hiccup followed. Ran was crying. Glancing over at the girl, Kakashi saw that she still had her face buried in Kero-chan as her small shoulders shook. Poor Kakashi had no idea what he should do. Comfort her? She didn't seem to trust him enough for that to be effective. Tell her to be quiet? He wasn't that cruel. Scream internally? Already on it. It seemed as though Ran was trying her best to hide her crying, so Kakashi decided it would be best to pretend to still be asleep.
Eventually Ran's sniffles quieted and her hiccups became more spaced out, and before long she was back asleep. Kakashi let out a sigh and was about to try to fall asleep again, when he heard Ran mummer, "Mama… please come back…" in her sleep.
Kakashi groaned and proceeded to give up on sleep.
…
It appeared he had indeed at fallen asleep at some point. Because he was woken by Ran climbing out of her futon. Living in the country must have really worn off on the girl… Kakashi thought as he watched the sun breaking over the horizon. The kid rose with the sun. He could feel her eyes on him as he continued to feign sleep for several moments before she shuffled closer. Ran seemed to be debating whether or not to wake him up, but decided against it before shuffling over to the door and slipped out quietly.
Kakashi listened closely as she wandered about his appartment. Ran opened several doors before she found the one she was apparently looking for- the bathroom, and it wasn't long before she was exploring again. Kakashi wasn't too worried, anything that she shouldn't see was properly hidden in his room, and he was almost certain there weren't any live traps in the rest of the apartment… Almost.
Ran wasn't finding anything all that interesting in this house. After a couple failed attempts at finding the bathroom, and one introduction with a mop, there wasn't much left to nose around in. The books on the shelf were either too hard to read the titles of, or just didn't make much sense to the small girl. Despite growing up in a village where electricity wasn't all that common, Ran knew what a TV was. She had seen one in the fishing village next to her own, but she didn't want to risk turning it on since Kakashi was still sleeping in the other room. It seemed as though people didn't get up with the sun here.
She eventually found herself in the kitchenette, nosing around in refrigerator first. When she found nothing all that interesting in there, she moved onto the drawers under the counter. The first had normal eating utensils, but the second was full of pointy objects. Some were long with a handle while others were smaller and star-shaped. Luckily, she recognized them as knives and her mother had drilled into her mind that she should never touch knives without an adult present.
There wasn't anything all that interesting after the drawer full of pointy things, and Ran was about to pull over one of the chairs to look in the higher cabinets when she heard something snap. Suddenly, there was one of those long knives with the handle only an inch in front of her face and Kakashi having apparently just caught it. Ran stared up at her father; not really registering what had just happened.
"Well, that was close," he chuckled before tossing the knife onto the counter, "good thing I remembered one of the traps was still rigged, ne?" Kakashi played it off, but if he had remembered just a few seconds later, Ran would be sporting a kunai between the eyes. Now, that would have been bad. The little girl who apparently didn't realize how much danger she had just been in, took a few steps away from him. Kakashi let out a sigh, she's still uncomfortable around me.
"What's wrong with your eye?" Ran asked as she stared up at his uncovered left eye.
"It got hurt a long time ago."
"Oh. Does it hurt?" She asked, with all the tact a fiver-year-old possessed, having not stopped staring at it.
"Not anymore." Kakashi answered curtly, hoping it would give her the hint to stop asking about it.
Which she apparently got because she asked, "where are my clothes?"
He sighed at the change of subject and relaxed the shoulders he had unknowingly tensed. "They're on the roof and should be dry by now. Wait here while I get them, and try not to set off anymore traps, alright?" He gave her an eye smile as he slipped on his scandals and headed out the door.
…
Half an hour later, the pair was washed, watered, fed, and ready for the day. Kakashi supposed that he should see Tsunade at some point that day, but she wouldn't be in her office for several more hours. His team wouldn't be meeting up until noon and it was only six. Having nothing better to do, Kakashi lead them around the market that was just coming alive. He made sure to keep a close eye on Ran over his book as she wandered around the many stalls and shops. At some point she got a sweet bun from the old ladies at the bakery.
"What, didn't get me one?" Kakashi teased, but unfortunately Ran took him seriously. Looking down intently at the bun, she ripped it in half and held out the unbitten portion to him. "Ah… I was just teasing you, you can have it all…"
She stared down at the two halves of the bun and tried unsuccessfully to take a bite. It seemed like she would need both hands even for one half. The little girl tried to stick them back together, and it seemed to work, until she tried to take a bite. One half fell immediately to the ground and in her attempt to grab it, she dropped the second half. The was a moment of silence before Ran's legs gave out from under her and she was quickly on all fours in front of the remains of her poor dirt covered sweet bun.
Kakashi had a hand over his face as he watched the scene, and hoped to god those occasional trembles weren't an indicator of tears. Not really sure what to do, Kakashi reached a shaking hand towards the girl, hoping she wouldn't blame him for this. Despite the fact that it totally was all his fault. He could hear several old ladies whispering behind him, but one of them came to his rescue.
"There, there, no need to cry now. You can have another one," Ran instantly perked up as the woman handed her a new sweet bun. She wiped her damp eyes before taking a large bite. "That's a good girl," she praised as she patted Ran on the head. Kakashi was about to thank her for her help, but the old woman just smacked him in the knee with her cane as she walked past him. Kakashi was pretty sure he deserved it.
…
Trying to put the sweet bun incident behind them, the pair continued to wander around the market. More more stores were coming to life as the morning progressed on and there were many new things to see. Ran seemed to fall into line next to him after some time so he felt confindant in taking his eyes off of her for a few seconds while he looked for some things he needed. But when he turned to ask Ran what kind of toothpaste she wanted; she was gone. He had looked away for one second and now she was gone.
"Ran?" Kakashi called as he glanced around the immediate area. He was forced to retrace his steps quite a bit before he finally found her. "There you are," Kakashi sighed in relief, "you can't just wander off without telling me."
Ran didn't seem to be listening as she stared at something the booth was selling. It was a small stand that generally sold cheap to intermediately priced jewelry and small trinkets. The little girl was apparently captivated by a hair clip with a some sort of frog character smiling with its tongue sticking out.
Kakashi sighed before saying, "I take it you like frogs?"
Ran jumped a little at his voice, she appeared to have not noticed his arrival, but looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Uh-huh!" She nodded vigorously before turning back to the hair clip.
"How much?" Kakashi asked the vendor.
"5 ryo," the young man responded before he struggled to catch the coin Kakashi tossed at him.
"You're buying it… for me?" Ran asked, confused as Kakashi handed her the clip.
"I'm not buying it for myself."
"Thank you…" Ran said with a small smile as she clutched the clip close to her chest.
"You're welcome," he gave her an eye smile and a head pat, "but I'm afraid I don't know how to put that in your hair, so you'll probably have to ask Sakura to do it for you."
"Okay!"
"Ah! Kakashi-san, Ran-chan! I'm so glad I ran into you," Shizune exclaimed as she ran into the pair just outside the market. "Tsunade-sama wants to see the both of you."
"Already? I didn't think she would even be in her office for a couple more hours," Kakashi commented as he scratched the back of his head. "Did she say what she wanted us for?"
"Usually, yes, but she had an early meeting this morning. I'm afraid she didn't, but come along. Tsunade-sama is waiting for you!" Shizune exclaimed excitedly as she pushed poor Kakashi, with Ran following close behind, in the direction of the Hokage tower.
There were very few people around the tower when they arrived, and they only had to wait a few seconds before they were brought into the Hokage's office. "This is the second time in a row you've arrived on time, Kakashi, the world must be ending," Tsunade smirked over her hands. Tonton ran happily from Tsunade's side over to Shizune, begging to be picked up. Which the woman was more than happy to do. Ran stared at the piglet with wide amazed eyes and a slack jaw.
"You have a very diligent assistant, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi replied nervously as he scratched the back of his neck. Shizune smiled at him from behind her mentor.
"That she is, but that isn't what I called you here to talk about today. Shizune, please take Ran back to the waiting room."
"Of course, Tsunade-sama. Come on, Ran-chan, I can introduce you to Tonton there." Shizune hadn't let the little girl's apparent amazement at the pig slip past her. Ran looked genuinely excited to meet the little pig and quickly left the office with Shizune and Tonton.
Tsunade waited for a few moments before continuing, "I would like Ran to undergo a standard physical examination since she's going to be living here from now on. Just want to make sure everything is working the way it should be and that she is up to date on all her vaccinations." Tsunade held up her hand when it looked like Kakashi was about to object, "Shizune will be the preforming the examination, and she knows to be discreet about the situation."
"That… would be acceptable…" he agreed once he thought it over, "I would like to keep her off of Danzo-sama's radar for as long as possible."
"That's understandable. Lord knows how much trouble he has given the clans over the years; just don't expect him to stay in the dark for long."
"Of course, Tsunade-sama."
Out in the waiting area, Tonton was absolutely loving the attention Ran was giving her. The little pig was laying on her back as Ran ravished her belly with rubbs. Shizune laughed at the happy sounds the pig started making when the pink haired girl hit her favorite spot, and it wasn't long before Tonton became putty in her hands.
"Keep that up and you may just become her new favorite person!" Shizune laughed, but instantly sombered up when the office door opened.
"Looks like you made a friend," Kakashi commented after he glanced down at the nearly asleep pig. "Ran, you'll be going with Shizune-sama for a check-up. Don't give her too much trouble, alright?"
Ran nodded before turning back to Shizune, "can Tonton come too?"
"Of course, I'm going to need my assistant!" She responded as she tried to rouse said assistant, but she seemed to be dead to the world. "Oh well, if you'll follow me, Ran-chan."
"Oh, and Kakashi," Tsunade called sadistically from within the office, causing the jonin to flinch, "I believe you have a D-rank to attend to."
"Congratulations, Ran-chan, you are in perfect health!" Shizune announced as Tonton brought a jar of suckers over, "what flavor would you like? For being such a good patient."
"Watermelon, please."
"One watermelon coming up."
Ran popped the sucker into her mouth happily before she remembered something. "Ne, Shizune-nee-chan, can you put this in my hair for me?" She asked after digging the frog hair clip out of her pocket.
"Hmm? Oh, of course!" Shizune took the clip and easily clipped some of the girl's dense bangs off to the side. "Did Kakashi-san buy it for you?" Ran nodded her head once in confirmation, "that was nice of him. Let's go see if he's in the waiting room, ok?"
The pair, plus Tonton, did indeed find the jonin lounging in one of the chairs while reading his beloved smut.
"Was your D-rank successful, Kakashi-san?" Shizune asked as she tried to hide a smirk.
"Yes, yes it was. Everything good on your end?"
"Ran-chan is the picture of perfect health. You can get my report from Tsunade-sama tomorrow."
"That's good," he said as he stood and stretched. "We've still got some time before we have to meet the rest of the team. We should probably run some errands until then." Kakashi thanked Shizune before leading Ran out of the hospital and into the shopping district.
There first stop was a futon store where, after looking at several child-sized futons, Ran decided on one with cartoon ducks printed on the quilt. The salesman promised that it would be delivered by the end of the day, and the pair moved onto their next destination. Kakashi bought things like soap, toothpaste, kid-friendly shampoo, and other assorted items from a convenience store. The clerk recommended child vitamins, and wished him luck after purchasing them. Odd… Kakashi thought as they exited the store.
"Kakashi-sensei?" A familiar voice called, "Where have you been? We were supposed to meet at nine!" Kakashi turned to face a rather miffed looking Naruto.
"We were? I thought we weren't meeting until noon." He said apparently unfazed. It was only twelve-thirty, not nearly late enough for them to come looking for him.
"NO! Why do you even set a schedule if you aren't even going to keep to it, dattebayo?!"
Ran tuned out as Naruto yelled at his clinically late sensei, and turned her attention to a far more interesting looking bug scurrying underfoot. Taking a quick look at the pair, she deemed they would be a while and wouldn't notice if she slipped away for a few seconds. The little girl followed steadily behind the fleeing bug, and upon closer inspection, she realized it was a species common to the Fire country but with different coloring than what she was used to. Most of the beetles back home were different shades of green, but this one had a solid red shell. Ran tried to catch it so she could ask Naruto about it, but seemingly sensing her intentions, the bug took flight.
"Wait! I promise to let you go right away! Please come back!" Ran exclaimed as she darted after the fleeing insect. Ran was fast but the beetle was faster, and it wasn't long before it flew out of sight. "Oh well…" she sighed as she started to head back to where she left Kakashi and Naruto, but something made her stop in her tracks.
She had just caught a wiff, but she definitely recognized that smell! Focusing on the smell and taking a few more sniffs and Ran realized that it was the tobacco the village leader would smoke in his pipe.
"Jii-chan!" Ran cried out and took off in the direction the smell was coming from. The smell slowly got stronger and stronger and it wasn't long before she was right behind the source of the smell. Ran wasted no time and promptly crashed into what she thought was Saito's backside, but if she had looked a little closer, she would have noticed a certain green flak jacket.
Asuma decided that he would treat his team to an early lunch after how hard they haf worked during morning practice. Even Shikamaru did more than he usually did. He puffed on one of his cigarettes as they made their way towards the BBQ place they frequented. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds were singing, Ino wasn't scolding either of her teammates, truly a perfect day. That is, until he was hit by a tiny missile.
"Oof!" Asuma exclaimed as the missile nearly knocked him over. Nearly. He was a ninja, after all. He was faced with a small head of thick pink hair when he twisted to look at just what was clinging to his backside.
"Jii-chan!" The missile, which was apparently a young child, cried.
"Asuma-sensei?" Ino yelped.
"Uh, kid, I think you have the wrong person," Asuma attempted to explain. The girl proceeded to look up at him and her eyes, eyes that he swore he recognized, grew in shock and then what looked like betrayal.
"B-but you smell just like him…!" She stuttered out as she unlatched from him, tears gathering in her eyes.
Asuma let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head before crouching down to her level and saying, "are you sure you haven't just gotten the scents mixed up?" It wasn't all that uncommon for young Inuzukas to get scents mixed up as they were still adjusting to their extraordinary sense of smell. The kid probably had some relation to them and had yet to memorize certain scents yet.
The girl sniffed him a few times before she managed to get out, "y-you really aren't Jii-chan…" Asuma let out a sigh as the situation seemed to be resolved, but then the kid let out an open-mouthed wail and broke down it tears. He flinched back at first due to the pitch she reached, but then he saw what resided in her mouth. Asuma felt his eyes widen in shock as he stared at two very prominent sets of canines that were visible to the world.
He did know those eyes.
And those teeth.
Asuma remanded frozen in shock as he watched Ino and a nervous looking Choji try to comfort the child. He glanced up at Shikamaru to find him scowling in concentration before he seemed to come to the same conclusion. The jonin watched as his eyes widened in shock and jaw going slack.
Shikamaru looked down at Asuma, and it seemed that the older man's reaction was all the confirmation he needed. "So troublesome…" Shikamaru groaned as he wiped his face with his hand.
Ino sent him a nasty glare for his comment, apparently thinking he meant the girl, before turning back to the girl. "Hey now, there's no need to cry! Where are your parents?"
The girl ceased her tears momentarily to glance around the street, "I-I-I d-don't know," she managed to get out before she began crying with a new vigor.
"Do you think she's an Inuzuka kid?" Choji asked no one in particular, "it would explain her teeth and sense of smell."
"Have you ever seen an Inuzuka with any hair color than brown?" Ino snapped back at him.
"I suppose not… but how do you explain them then? The Inuzuka are the only ones with those traits."
"There is one more," Asuma groaned as he stood up.
"Real-"
Choji began, but was cut off by a cry of, "Ran!" From a certain loud-mouth ninja. "Ran, there you are! You shouldn't run off like that!" Naruto scolded before Ran collided with him and buried her tear-stricken face into his front.
"You know her, Naruto?" Choji asked.
"Yeah… 'though it's kinda a long story…"
"Naruto, did you find her?" Sakura called from the other end of the street.
"Yeah, I found her!" He called back.
"That's good," Kakashi said nonchalantly as he appeared in cloud of smoke beside the group. Sakura was quick to run up next to him, but was accosted by Ino.
"Forehead, you know this girl too?"
"Kakashi-sensei too?" Choji added.
"Yeah… but it's a long story…" Sakura explained vaguely, not meeting Ino's eyes.
"That's exactly what Naruto said! Ok, Forehead, what's going on here? Spill!"
"It's really not my place to say…"
While Ino was badgering Sakura for details, Kakashi turned to his fellow jonin and said, "sorry if she gave you any trouble." But sighed when he saw his expression. Asuma definitely looked shell shocked, but under that was layer of disappointment and even anger. "Is it really that obvious…?" Kakashi asked in defeat.
"All she has to do is open her mouth and anyone over the age of twenty-five will know. Hell, even Shikamaru figure it out."
That statement caught Ino's attention and she quickly rounded on her teammate, "what is it? What did you figure out, Shikamaru?"
"I'm surprised you didn't realize it, Ino," Shikamaru started, but paused to let out a yawn, "that kid is Kakashi-sensei's daughter."
A/N: Kakashi has always struck me as struck me as a "why are their shuriken in your utensil drawer?" "I think you mean, "why are there utensils in my shuriken drawer?'" Kind of guy. ALSO, this story has 34 favs, 54 watches, and 10 reviews at the time I'm posting this! That is absolutely amazing! I just want to take this time to thank all of you; THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH \ ; U ; /
Chapter References:
The exchange rate for the ryo used in the Narutoverse is 10 yen = 1 ryo so the hairclip would be 50 yen or around 0.50 USD.
